Greetham Valley pair win national matchplay title

Greetham Valley pair Lee Cameron and Alex Carter had a fine win in the national Titleist FJ Matchplay Championship.

Lee and Alex had battled through several rounds of knockout matchplay and then finished third at the Midlands final to reach the national final which was played at the prestigious Vale do Lobo course in Portugal.

They had four days of competitive golf, played on two courses, trying to secure the best aggregate betterball score over all four rounds.

They started brilliantly with the top score on each of the first two days – 46 points – to take a commanding lead. Despite slipping slightly below this standard on day three, their score of 40, still gave them a six-point lead going into the final round.

Lee and Alex were paired with their nearest challengers in the final round and produced storming rounds to score 48 points and take the title by a massive 16 points.

On the last round Lee scored 12 points over three holes by hitting three of his best-ever drives to notch birdies, while Alex’s short game blossomed. As well as commemorative salvers, each player won a new Titleist driver and custom fitting.

* On Friday, 18 players tried night golf for the first time on the Academy course.

They using illuminated balls and glow sticks to mark the fairway and the edges of the green as well as a light in the hole for putting accuracy.

Ally McNaughton won with 15 points.

* The ladies’ Winter Order of Merit continued with Helen Woolley winning from runner-up Isabella Condie and Jackie Friend in third.

* Round five of the Men’s Winter League was played in frosty conditions, but this didn’t inhibit the leading teams in each league.

Steve Roche hit a memorable hole-in-one at the sixth which helped he and Chris Proudman’s to a one-hole win over Bryan Birchall and Ian Coulson in League Two.

In Leagues One and Four there are three teams with 100 per cent records vying for top spot, while Graham Smith and Neil Sinclair lead in League Five.

Fred Aspin and Greg Harker continue to hold a narrow lead in League Two, while Chris Ellis and Sam McCall have a 100 per cent record in League Three.